We all know sleep is important. Did you know it's particularly important for fertility?
Sleep is when your body goes into recovery mode, it clears out waste and produces hormones. This is essential for fertility and quality sleep is a must in a comprehensive fertility plan.
Sleep is one of the most common things that gets put on the backburner. Life gets busy, we push bedtime a little later, we scroll on the phone a little longer and the next thing we know it’s close to midnight or after!
What does the research say about sleep and fertility?
1. How many hours are you getting?
Short sleep is defined as <5-6 hours. Short sleep was shown to:
- Interfere with menstrual cycle regularity and PMS
- Significantly lower sperm counts, sperm survival, and sperm motility
- Impact natural fertility
- Result in lower pregnancy rates compared to medium sleepers (7-8 hours)
Late bedtime (midnight and later) was also shown to reduce sperm quality.
2. When do you sleep
Sleep can be further divided into chronotypes:
- Morning type - people who get to bed early and wake early (10pm or earlier)
- Evening type - people who get to bed and wake late (midnight or later)
- Intermediate type - those who are neither morning nor evening type
Lower sperm count and motility were seen with the evening subtype, and fewer reproductive troubles may be seen with the morning type.
The take-home.
More research in this area is needed, but this suggests getting 7-8 hours, by 10pm may be ideal for reproduction.
Sleep quality matters too.
If you’re headed to bed at the right time, but having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep and feel non-refreshed in the morning, perhaps we need to support you a little more!
Common causes of disrupted sleep include - lifestyle factors, high stress, poor blood sugar management, hormonal imbalances, and more.
If you need some help with sleep and sleep quality, let’s connect. Schedule a free discovery to learn more.
In health,
Dr. Ashley Damm, BSc. ND.
Naturopathic Doctor - Women’s health & fertility
Vancouver, BC
References:
Caetano G, Bozinovic I, Dupont C, Léger D, Lévy R, Sermondade N. Impact of sleep on female and male reproductive functions: a systematic review. Fertil Steril. 2021 Mar;115(3):715-731. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2020.08.1429. Epub 2020 Oct 11. PMID: 33054981.